Last month, I wrote about how now that I live in a city that has a hockey team, I’ve taken a greater interest in watching hockey for the first time in about 9 years, but I was very confused on who exactly my favorite team should be. Well, if you happened to be watching NBC this afternoon, you can see how my internal conflict escalated even more.
I wrote the last post half jokingly, because at the end of the day, I’m still not that big of a hockey fan, not like I am with Baseball and Football, where the White Sox and 49ers are clearly my favorite teams. My hockey fandom was at its highest from about 1994-1999, and it was mostly because the NHL video games for the Super Nintendo and Playstation were just so awesome. I played those games so much that I learned pretty much every player in the league while playing either as the Blackhawks or Coyotes against the rest of the league. The spectacular bloody rivalry between the Avalanche and Red Wings also was going on around that time, so if anything, I was more of a fan of the sport itself than being completely invested in any team.
I was actually on a plane today flying into Phoenix and was lucky enough to have a newer 737 that had DirecTV installed on it so I watched the beginning of the game. Watching the rabid United Center crowd and the amazing singing of the national anthem gave me chills about the Blackhawks that I haven’t felt in a while, and it brought back a lot of memories for me growing up and going to games with that same rabid crowd, who at that time were supporting a losing team (most of the NHL games I have attended in my life were from about 1997-2002…not a good time in Chicago).
So I’m happy for the Blackhawks, and excited for their chances in the Stanley Cup Finals. They will have my full support and I’ll probably watch every game. Since the D-Backs, Cardinals, and Suns have no chance of ever becoming my favorite team in a sport, and I plan on living here for a while, the Coyotes can still be my favorite hockey team, but like I said in my last post, I’m going to root for the Blackhawks against everyone but Phoenix.
I don’t talk about it much here, but I actually have a similar situation in the NFL where my clear-cut 2nd favorite team is the Raiders, because they have been my dad’s favorite team every since the Cardinals (ironic, huh?) moved from Chicago in 1960 and the AFL started. I am well educated in Raiders, Blackhawks, and White Sox lore thanks to my dad, but only the White Sox stuck as my favorite team of those 3, while other factors led me to choose the 49ers and Coyotes as my favorite teams instead. My dad isn’t that big of a hockey fan anymore either, but the stories I heard about Bobby Hull and the rest of the guys from his childhood as a kid showed me where his loyalties existed, and I know he’s been watching this year…
So go Hawks, especially for my dad. I might have to head over to his house to watch the Stanley Cup clincher with him, and maybe even shell out $30 for a championship t-shirt….
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